Have a couple Grundens "extras" and would like to pass 'em along to someone in need. First is the Transmit Jacket (anchor grey) in Large – goes for $180 on Tackle Warehouse. This isn't a "send it to me" or "first in" deal. If you or a bud needs a good piece of rain gear – with those neoprene cuffs – please lmk. And please understand: I just have one coat!

Side scan – those are distances in feet up top: 🤯

1. Jesse Wiggins beat up his brother at Smith Lake.

Oops meant to say he beat his bro at the Smith lake BFL 2-dayer! 😁 Doesn't say what he fished but bettin' it was a shakey head....

2. Jason Lambert won the 2-day BFL at Old Hick'ry.

> ...focused on outside grasslines – milfoil and hydrilla...on the bottom third of Old Hickory and caught every fish he weighed in on a white ChatterBait with a 'green shad'-colored Castaic Baits Jerky J....

3. Bryan Schmitt is on BassEdge Ray-dee-o.

River tactics plus the hosts talk the best ways to cull bass.

4. Gussy and Carl Jocumsen are fishing tourneys in Australia.

Not Aussie bass but barramundi.

5. Randy Howell King's Home festivus is Nov 12.

At the King's Home campus in Chelsea, AL. First 100 peeps get a fake wearable flat top! Okay kidding about that but get a chance to win his boat here.

6. Matt Arey plays pickleball...?

Gotta ask him whether that sport includes BBQ, cheese 'n chips...?

7. Real good look at what it's like to be from Japan and fish here.

It's tough. Masayuki Matsushita talkin' on the Bassin'masters about that an the Opens vs the Elites – few excerpts:

> The biggest change on the Elite Series from the Bassmaster Opens was that we only had 3 days to practice.... When I fished the Opens...2 or 3 weeks practicing.

> At the Open level, just catching 5 a day got you in the hunt, but on the Elite Series that's nowhere near good enough. You have to catch 5 big ones...every day to be competitive. My finesse tactics were enough to do well in the Opens, but next year I'm going to incorporate more big baits and power fishing....

> I also let my feelings get in the way at Pickwick Lake. I missed my family terribly by that point, and I'm not ashamed to say that I was homesick for Japan. Immediately after the tournament I drove to NY...and flew home to Japan for a couple of weeks. It got me back on track mentally.

> Someday my family will make the trip over here with me, but for now, it's better that they stay in Japan. Everything that I do is for them. I want to make them proud, and I want to be a household name at the highest level of this great sport.

8. DQ of 3-time Bassmaster yak winner overturned.

> Initial protests alleged that the area where [Drew] Gregory fished during the event fell outside of the legal tournament waters. The 2022 Pickwick Lake competitor information sheet and briefing stated: "Only water accessible from the main body of Pickwick Lake will be considered accessible."

> Based on photos submitted with the protests, Gregory was initially disqualified from the tournament – however, Gregory presented video evidence to the appeals panel showing that the 12-mile route between the main body of Pickwick Lake and his fishing area was accessible.

9. Cancer benefit tourney on Ray Hub THIS SUNDAY.

Ray Hubbard Bass Club's annual Fish For A Cure benefit for the American Cancer Society. Their 7th year doing it and $186K raised so far...#stout. Sounds like $150/boat and $2,500 guaranteed for 1st.

Can't link it, info at: rayhubbardbassclub com

10. TX: 30+ bag weighed at Fishers of Men in East TX.

Not sure where or on what but props to John Jay and Dawson Schnautz:

11. Another great fishin' 'n faith post by Shaye Baker.

He talks about Steve "I AM joyful Kumar!" (he says yelling at me hahaha!) Bowman right off the top, which was alarming and interesting – lol just messin'. My fave lines from it:

> A crankbait is fantastic at doing what it was designed to do...but it makes for a lousy topwater.

> I want to encourage you to be the light. Embrace who you are. We are all created special and have a specific reason for being here. I challenge you to live yours out to the best of your ability, and I promise to do the same. 

💪

12. AR stocked shad in some lakes...

...because they care about their bass fisheries and fishermen! You hear that NJ???

13. NJ: Great post about how access to public lakes is being limited.

Written by B.A.S.S.'s great conservation writer Robert Montgomery, and highlights what a clown show this state is – and that the DNR once again does nothing.

14. Yamamoto owners GSM Outdoors working with Kim Stricker...

...of Hook n Look for underwater vids. Smart!

15. What do you think about this jighead?

Interesting shape, called the Northland Elite Series Cabbage Crusher "Jig" because up north jigheads a lotta times are called "jigs":

> ...weedless jig built specifically to operate in vegetation. ...60-degree tie eye which slips nicely through weeds and heavy cover and features a gap large enough for the stiff, heavier fluorocarbon...weedguard, which is made of titanium for both strength and flexibility. And it's a dual wire weed guard...without sacrificing any of the hook gap....

Gammy hook, 3/16, 1/8, 3/8 and 1/2, and 4 colors. And if you're wonderin', Northland actually is where Santy Claus is from – there is a North Pole but there's no elves there so....

16. New Lithium Pros 12v starting battery.

Sounds cool but costs $1,800:

> ...with the highest cranking power of any other battery in its class at 1500 Marine Crank Amps (eq)...offers 110 amp hours and an incredible 260 minutes of reserve capacity....

> Since it holds a higher voltage at discharge, there's no longer a need to employ 2 12v lead-acid batteries to keep your graphs from resetting when the engine cranks. ...enough power to start most conventional outboard engines and keep up to 4 different 12" graphs running simultaneously.

17. Pontoons selling better than any other boats?

A little info on where too:

> ...MI, MN and WI are consistently the top states for national pontoon registrations...seeing growth in FL and NC the past couple of years. Both states have shown double-digit growth year over year. TX has also seen steady growth...from 2018 to 2021.

Does anyone make a pontoon with a flipping deck lol.

18. Garmin Q3 results – check out those margins wow.

> Consolidated revenue of $1.14 bil, a 4% decrease compared to the prior year quarter, was unfavorably impacted by approximately $70 mil due to the year-over-year strengthening of the US dollar relative to other major currencies.

> Gross margin expanded to 58.8% and operating margin was 21.0%.

> Operating income was $239 mil, a 15% decrease compared to the prior year quarter.

19. PA: 7,364 lbs of chemicals dumped in Pittsburgh rivers.

Sounds like in 2020. That was called out because those particular chemicals are linked to birth defects. The "winner" for dumping was:

> ...the Ohio River basin received the largest volume of toxic chemical discharges by weight in 2020....

I thought the Clean Water Act stopped all that but I guess not.

20. Even the NY Times now admits the world is "cooling."

But attributes it to the wrong stuff – does not mention stuff like: Greenland Ice Sheet Recovers as Scientists Say Earlier Loss was Due to Natural Warming Not CO2 Emissions

21. Keep an eye on...

OH Division of Wildlife awards Toledo Zoo $250,000 for wildlife conservation

> The funds will support the zoo's efforts to restore lake sturgeon and eastern hellbenders into their natural waterways.

Where does the OH DNR's funding come from? If it's like most DNRs, it's mostly/all anglers and hunters – meaning we are the only ones financially supporting stuff like this. Is that okay? Shouldn't other folks also pay to support salamanders and such? How good would fisheries and hunting be if states used 100% of the money they get from us for that?

Democrat ME governor is helping her state's fishermen fight the feds' sketchy whale-related speed limit and other stuff

Interesting she's a Democrat and not just going along with the feds – good!

Western Austraila gov't floats plan to ban salty fishing for 9 months out of the year

But only for recreational anglers, not commercial. Verrrry sketchy deal.

Btw did you know you can get ticketed in New Zealand for falling asleep while night fishing:

> In this case the "unsporting method" detected was related to anglers sleeping while bait fishing. The actions of the anglers were deemed "unsporting" as the rangers could demonstrate the angler's inability to detect a hooked fish on their line, inability to retrieve a hooked fish without undue delay, and inability to release any hooked fish that was undersize or unwanted with as little injury as possible.

Headline of the Day

Walleye fishermen charged with cheating at Cleveland tournament plead not guilty

PSA

Those wireless earbuds might be real bad for you.

What I wanna say about these deals since so many folks wear 'em:

1. Aaron Martens wore them many hours a day when fishing. He passed from brain cancer. Is there a relationship? Maybe.

2. You probably think that if they're sold, they must have been tested to be safe. Nope, as that post ^ talks about. In fact a LOT of stuff sold in America can be put on that "not tested" list, like cell phones, 5G wifi, self-driving cars, certain drugs, etc. And even when some stuff is called "safe" by the gov't, recalls show that they weren't safe after all.

> Joel Moskowitz, PhD, U of CA Berkeley...explained that earbud technology is so new that research hasn't yet been done to detail what effects it could have on the brain.

> "From a precautionary standpoint, I would argue you shouldn't experiment with your brain like this by keeping these kinds of wireless headphones on your head or in your ears. You're conducting a health experiment on yourself, and current regulations are completely oblivious to these kinds of exposures."

All I am saying is please do your own careful research – don't outsource it. Love from one bass-head.

Cool hacks for fishing with "super" plastics.

Z-Man vid – Z-Man has ElaZtech and Strike King has Perfect Plastic – might be others. Anyhow, some cool quick tips in there including what's the best glue to use (Loctite Ultragel) but this is my fave – just stretch a piece over the hook eye to keep the bait on! 🤯

"I only had three for 5 lbs then you start the day off with two 9-lbers!?"

- LA's Logan Latuso talkin' 'bout his day 1 and then day 2 at the Rayburn Central Open, where he finished 2nd and qualified for the Elites. Think it was meant to be? Here's his weights from Rayburn:

Day 1: 3 for 5-13

Day 2: 5 for 31-04

Day 3: 4 for 7-07

His dad Robbie Latuso fished the Elites for 5 years (stopped in 2021), and when he made the Elites in 2016 actually bumped out Logan...😱

Check 13.5 lbs of smallmouths in 1 cast! 👀 That's @tightlineguide on Insta, and it was in Canada where smallmouths practically jump in the boat! 😁

Greg Hackney sent me this, said it was off one of his trailcams and "definitely a skunk ape." I don't know man....